The Courtyard House: Xu Damao's Aunt is the Queen of Women

Ushtala, the first labor reform farm.

The date was March 29, 1964, the 3th day of the second month of the lunar calendar, a Sunday.

Spring is here, temperatures are rising, days are warm but nights are cold, and during the snowmelt season, the winds are strong.

After a month of adaptation, Liu Hao and Ye Juan have become accustomed to the climate and life in the Gobi Desert of Northwest China.

Ye Juan is very enthusiastic about her work. She goes to get off work and leaves on time every day and tries her best to learn how to be a good deputy director and deputy secretary.

Liu Hao seemed quite relaxed. In his view, being a leader only required knowing how to use people; there was no need to do everything personally.

Besides, the location of the Ushtala No. 1 Labor Reform Farm is too remote, and it is basically impossible to contact the leaders of the Public Security Bureau. The work is handled by Chang Wei and Ye Juan, and they live a leisurely life.

The inmates were in a worse situation; Ye Zhen kept a close eye on them every day, and would slap them across the face at the slightest provocation.

In March, the system gave Liu Hao one fan-seller slot, which was given to Wang Chao, a prison warden in the third prison area who was straightforward, strong-willed and loved martial arts. He used the same trick he used to fool Ye Zhen to fool Wang Chao!

The prisoners in the third prison ward were all counter-revolutionaries, embezzlers, and serious criminals, and their sentences were generally life imprisonment. When Wang Chao started to fight, he had no psychological burden and slapped the prisoners hard.

So Liu Hao has accumulated more points and even bought three detoxifying and beautifying capsules for Ye Juan, Ye Xi, and He Xiaomeng.

Once you eat it, you won't be afraid of wind and sun. No matter how much sun you get, you won't get tanned, and your skin will become more delicate and smooth, like white jade.

In the Liu family courtyard, the fireplace table in the living room has been removed and replaced with a long solid wood table measuring 3.2 meters long and 1.2 meters wide, making it convenient for Professor Qian and Professor Guo to come over for meals and to discuss research problems.

At ten o'clock in the morning, Liu Hao had just woken up, finished eating the noodles cooked by Ye Juan, and leaned back in his chair to smoke and read the newspaper.

After Ye Juan finished cleaning up the kitchen, she took off her apron, walked over, sat in Liu Hao's lap, hugged his neck, kissed him, and asked softly.

"Honey, spring planting is about to begin. Isn't it a bit too much for Ward 95 to be responsible for 500 mu of cotton fields?"

"Not much. This year we plan to expand cotton production by 3000 mu. All prison areas have increased their reclamation quotas, and Prison Area No. 95 certainly can't be left behind."

Liu Hao put down the newspaper and skillfully slipped his hands into the little queen's loose loungewear.

The little queen gave a soft snort, broke free from Liu Hao's embrace, and pulled him towards the room.

An hour and a half later, the couple finally left the farm feeling refreshed, planning to ride horses around.

The farm's livestock ranch has warhorses, which are used by the correctional officers for riding and by the public security forces stationed on the farm for patrols.

Liu Hao's favorite is a four-year-old male Ili horse.

This horse is entirely black, with no stray hairs, and a glossy coat. Its mane and tail are also completely black. It has a robust build and a shoulder height that is much taller than that of a normal Ili horse, reaching an astonishing 1.7 meters!

They have a violent temper. Ordinary people would be bitten or kicked even if they tried to get close to them, let alone ride them. If you let them out to graze without tying their legs, they can run to Urumqi by the afternoon.

So it was usually used as a draft horse!

It wasn't until Liu Hao went for a stroll at the livestock farm that he spotted this unruly and arrogant black horse and immediately took a liking to it. Ignoring the advice of the cadres and staff, he decided to tame it.

Then, a truly astonishing scene unfolded: for the first time, they saw fawning and obsequiousness in the horse's face and eyes, jumping and frolicking around Liu Hao like dogs.

The dark horse was suffering! As a mutated breed, it was much smarter than ordinary horses and could clearly sense that Liu Hao was not a normal person and that his physical strength contained a violent power that could kill it with one punch.

So, if I don't try to please them, am I supposed to be beaten into submission like those brainless idiots before they'll obediently listen?

"Little Black!"

Liu Hao and Ye Juan walked side by side to the First Livestock Farm. Liu Hao called out, and Xiao Hei, who was not on a leash, heard Liu Hao's voice and immediately galloped over with his newly found wife, a white Ili horse of equally tall and majestic size.

When Xiao Hei was about 30 meters away from Liu Hao and Ye Juan, it braked suddenly and came running up to Liu Hao. It didn't dare to stick out its tongue to lick him for fear of being hit, and rubbed its forehead against Liu Hao's hand.

Liu Hao patted its head, mounted the horse, and Ye Juan rode on Xiao Hei's wife, Xiao Bai.

"Juan'er, let's see who's faster."

After Liu Hao finished speaking, he suddenly squeezed Xiao Hei's belly, and Xiao Hei took off running, its four hooves flying, kicking up clouds of dust.

Ye Juan was prepared and ran to the side in advance.

"Little White, chase!"

Xiao Bai also has a fiery temper and chased after Xiao Hei relentlessly.

The two rode two horses, one black and one white, galloping one after the other on the road leading from the farm to the cotton field.

The endless cotton fields were still a dull yellow.

Last year's cotton stalks lay withered and crooked in the soil, their stems white and brittle, rustling in the wind.

The surface layer has thawed and feels soft and soily underfoot, but the ground underneath is still a bit frozen. It's not too difficult to dig, but it's definitely not easy either.

The prisoners lined up in rows, clearing cotton stalks, leveling the ground, and tidying up the furrows in the field.

They were all wearing old cotton-padded jackets and old single-layer clothes. Many of them had already taken off their cotton-padded coats and draped them over their arms, working in only thin jackets. After working for a while, they would break out in a sweat.

No one dared to slow down; shovels and picks rose and fell, the only sound being the dull thud of digging.

There were guards on the ground carrying guns, walking back and forth, not really shouting, just keeping an eye on things.

In the distance, the sand dunes, the Gobi Desert, and the sparse red willows and saxaul trees are still a withered brown, without a trace of green.

The cotton fields were also divided into sections, with each prison area responsible for one section!

The area adjacent to the tenth prison ward was allocated 500 mu to the ninety-fifth prison ward.

22 prisoners... no, we should include Yang Weimin!

The kid was sentenced to fifteen years. He was sent to Ushtala on the 22nd. Ye Juan wrote down his name and assigned him to cell block number 95.

"Liu Haizhong, I'll fuck your grandma!"

In the cotton field, Sha Zhu dug in the ground while cursing Liu Haizhong.

The inmates were used to it; if Sha Zhu didn't scold Liu Haizhong, they would feel strange.

Liu Haizhong didn't care at all and buried himself in digging the 22 mu of land he was in charge of.

Yes, 22 mu per person, no more, no less, and he did everything by himself, from tilling the land, sowing, weeding, topping, and harvesting.

This was stipulated by Ye Zhen, who also established a reward and punishment system.

Whoever grows the best crops will get a larger share of the grain and can eat more meat during festivals.

The crisp sound of horses' hooves grew louder as they approached. The group of inmates turned to look and saw Liu Hao and Ye Juan riding towards them.

"Hey, Little Black, stop for a second!"

Liu Hao tugged on the reins, and Xiao Hei obediently stopped. The discipline officer stepped forward, saluted, and greeted him.

"Hello, Secretary Liu and Secretary Ye!"

Liu Hao dismounted, smiled and greeted the warden, then looked at his fellow inmates, who were weathered, dark-skinned, and lean.

Yang Weimin stared blankly at Ye Juan. Although he already knew that Liu Hao and Ye Juan were the secretary and deputy secretary of the First Labor Reform Farm, he still felt as if he were in another world.

A few months ago, he was the factory director's nephew, riding high on his success, determined to win Ye Juan's heart and vowing to marry her.

Now, he is a serious criminal, his rival in love is the Party Secretary, and the woman he admires is the Deputy Party Secretary.

This huge gap drove him almost crazy.

Ye Zhen ran over, grinning, and said, "Secretary, I was just about to come and report to you. A batch of prisoners is coming this afternoon, and I just looked at the list. There are people from compound number 95 on it again!"

Upon hearing this, Liu Hao and Ye Juan became interested.

Ye Juan asked, "Who is it?"

"Yan Jiefang, Yu Li, Yu Haitang!"

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